The comment I often hear from Italians these days goes something like this: “We thought Italy had a monopoly on insanely complex political rows that are driven by poisonous rivalries and monstrous egos. But this Brexit? Mamma mia!”
Giuseppe Conte, Italy’s urbane prime minister, is not about to be so forthright, claiming when I meet him that he will not pass judgment on the politics of his neighbours.
“I don’t want to give lessons, to say whether Brexit was a mistake,” he says. “There was a referendum and the vote must be respected.” But then, in his measured, diplomatic language, he issues a clear warning to the warring tribes of British politics, in essence saying: “If you want to tweak the Brexit deal we
